It’s been a remarkable turn-around. Only months ago England were playing a losing brand of cricket that was out-dated, tired and formulaic. A stats-based approach had inhibited talented players, rendering them incapable of responding, in the moment, to changes in game dynamics.
Not any more. Freed of limiting inhibition, playing to their strengths, England are now in tune with the modern one-day game.
England’s turn around, demonstrates how simple it is to transform the way a team plays. Charged with being positive and aggressive, the right players are played in their right positions. Fearlesness supports boldness and daring. One players success appears to feed off on to the others. Thus a culture is created that is easy to identify.
Predicitive behaviour, such as ‘what would be a good score on this pitch?’…or ‘where should we be after ten overs?’ etc., no longer holds sway. There are now no limits set on what constitutes a good score. New Zealand were well short when they posted 349 at Trent Bridge yesterday. 400 may well have been too few! How long before teams post 500?
In the stats based era this would have been impossible. Simply because what has gone before (history) informs what should happen next. This is the trend and the pattern. Therefore this governs how we think and how we play (limited thinking). Not anymore. What has gone before is simply that.
In the new time, the rules of engagement are, ‘what is possible now?’ (unlimited thinking). Records can be re-written at anytime in the new era. We are in the time of, ‘the impossible is nothing’.
Of course, soon enough opposition bowlers will start to work out whats going on. And set traps for the England batsmen. But by that time, the batters should have enough confidence in their locker, to find new ways to solve problems. Because thats what confidence does. It allows you to develop absolute trust in your own game and skills.
From being out of touch and out of time, England are now in harmony with the modern era of one-day cricket. They have caught up with the main players on the world stage. If they continue to play with this freedom and daring, then the next step would be to go beyond the rest and become innovators and trailblazers. Taking the one-day game to places that it hasn’t been before. From transforming the team…to transforming the game!